May’s negotiator Olly Robbins faces renewed attack

Olly Robbins has come under increasing public scrutiny during his pivotal role in Brexit talksDario Pignatelli/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The former head of MI6 has accused Theresa May’s chief Brexit negotiator of “hoodwinking” the public.

Sir Richard Dearlove said that Olly Robbins had “serious questions of improper conduct to answer” by negotiating a deal with Europe that would compromise Britain’s future intelligence gathering capacity.

Sir Richard, who ran MI6 until 2004, claimed that Mr Robbins was “covertly working” to lock the UK into participating in joint defence and security projects after Brexit that would be “under EU control”. He warned that this risked “compromising fatally” Britain’s existing bilateral intelligence relationships.